Cities, counties and sheriffs: Keep inmate work program

Representatives of cities, counties and sheriffs condemned the decision by Mississippi Department of Corrections to shut down the Joint State-County Work Program, which they say will take away $23 million from local governments.

Representatives of cities, counties and sheriffs condemned the decision by Mississippi Department of Corrections to shut down the Joint State-County Work Program, which they say will take away $23 million from local governments.

The Mississippi Association of Supervisors, the Mississippi Municipal League and the Mississippi Sheriffs' Association called today for Gov. Phil Bryant and state legislators to oppose MDOC Commissioner Marshall Fisher's decision to end the program.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections is discussing alternatives with counties to keep free inmate labor when the Joint State County Work Programs begins phasing out on Aug. 1.

"With the removal of this program, counties and municipalities will have to hire workers to make up for the loss of labor, thus requiring local governments to raise taxes in order to provide funding for the previously filled positions, as well as provide these new employees with benefits and retirement," the state associations said in a statement.

Fisher said today that MDOC is trying to find a way to work with sheriffs and counties affected by the program's closure.

"MDOC is trying to find a way to work with these sheriffs and counties that will be affected by the closure of the JSCWP," Fisher said. "At this time, MDOC continues to move forward with its original closure plan. We have to get out of the mindset that we must continue doing business the old way."

The first proposed alternative is for participating counties to keep state inmates without compensation from the state. Secondly, the counties can request mobile work crews at the state's expense, based on current state law.

A 2003 state attorney general's opinion states that when space is available at state correctional institutions, MDOC is not required to bear the costs associated with housing state inmates in county jails. MDOC now has plenty of space at the community work centers (CWCs) and the state prisons. Therefore, MDOC no longer will reimburse counties $20 per day per offender for housing and feeding inmates, Fisher said.

The plan is to move the fewer than 1,000 inmates participating in the 30 Joint State County Work Programs to the state's 16 work centers. Counties with both a JSCWP and a CWC will be the first to see the program end.

"Laying off my people or closing one of the state's prisons as was suggested during the meeting with sheriffs is not a viable option," Fisher said. "With the continued reduction of inmates in state prisons, we anticipate more significant changes in the future."